New Zealand

Monday, 9 September 2013

Paris ArchitectBy Charles Belfoure

Summery courtesy of goodreads.comLike most gentiles in
Nazi-occupied Paris, architect Lucien Bernard has little empathy for the
Jews. So when a wealthy industrialist offers him a large sum of money
to devise secret hiding places for Jews, Lucien struggles with the
choice of risking his life for a cause he doesn't really believe in.
Ultimately he can't resist the challenge and begins designing expertly
concealed hiding spaces—behind a painting, within a column, or inside a
drainpipe—detecting possibilities invisible to the average eye. But when
one of his clever hiding spaces fails horribly and the immense
suffering of Jews becomes incredibly personal, he can no longer deny
reality.

Written by an expert whose knowledge imbues every page,
this story becomes more gripping with every life the architect tries to
save...

Review

Charles Belfoure writing is poignant,
historical accurate and heart
wrenching. His paints a realistic picture that captivated me with its
tone, setting, and the strength of its characters. He writes with such
heart
felt emotion, that I was through a box of tissues before I even know
it. This book is a haunting depiction of Jewish survival and how two
very different men come together to help hide Jews, in a time when there
really wasn't any safe place or haven for them.

Lucien
Bernard, is an unemployed architect during the German occupation of
Paris,
who is offered a job that is technically challenging but extremely
dangerous. He must construct a hiding place similar to the Priest Holes
that were used during the reign of Elizabeth the first, when being a
Catholic priest was a death sentence - so hidden rooms were constructed
to keep practitioners and clergy safe from discovery.

Lucien
is at first rather disgusted and appalled; regardless of the pay, this
assignment could get him killed, especially when one of the buildings he
is
commissioned is across the street from Gestapo headquarters. Although
he is not particularly fond of Jews, Lucien accepts the assignment
because of its a financially lucrative offer. His employer introduces
him in to the German HQ
and soon Lucien is
planning German war factories.

This is a book that will stay
with me for some time as Charles
Belfoure's descriptions of the cruelty the Gestapo inflicted on
Parisians and the Jewish people is haunting- there hunt for food, the
fear they must have constantly felt and the strength people showed in
their resistance to the inhumanity that was forced upon them. Highly recommended 5 Stars